Qiu Ling stared at the pristine white paper, wondering if it was his eyes or if he truly was too impatient. Well, most likely, it was the latter. His beloved couldn’t have started long ago and knowing what a conscientious person he was, he might be weighing every single word twice before drawing the first stroke and ten for each one that followed. It wouldn’t be impossible.

Convincing himself of this, Qiu Ling continued to stand behind Jing He, eagerly watching as … his beloved still did nothing.

Qiu Ling blinked. It seemed this weighing thing was serious business. He definitely shouldn’t interrupt Jing He’s thoughts at such a crucial moment. Anyway, writing a poem wasn’t that easy. He should know. He had tried it before and it took him a few times to get together something decent. With that experience though, he was certain he could pin down a heartfelt confession of all his beautiful thoughts about his soon-to-be husband in a few moments.

Actually, come to think of it, maybe he should do just that. Surely, this could be counted as encouragement for Jing He. Seeing him write a poem with swift brush strokes, he might feel encouraged not to overthink and just write what he thought. Oh, yes, it was definitely because of that. It certainly had nothing to do with the fact that he had started about how to praise his beloved and wanted to express those thoughts as soon as possible. No, how could that be?

Qiu Ling didn’t want to disturb Jing He so he quietly took out an ink stone and the accompanying ink stick from his spatial ring and started to grind. While he was busy with that, he thought for a while longer. Even though he already had the beginning of his great poem in mind, he couldn’t let the later verses be lacking. No, his beloved deserved the best!

Mn, when it came to what his beloved deserved, then another thing that was certainly part of that was having his fears assuaged. For example, his Jing He had always been self-conscious and worried way too much about not being good enough. Thus, the praise should be more extensive. He also had to make sure that he didn’t just praise his superior looks but also spent many words praising the multitude of positive inner qualities he appreciated about him. Only this way could he make him understand the true depth of his own greatness and also his future husband’s deep appreciation. Mn, perfect.

Qiu Ling blinked his eyes and stared at the small lake of ink he had ground. That … should be more than enough to write a few pages. He’d better stop now or this would only become overwhelming for Jing He. Too much praise might seem like he was just blindly piling on good attributes, even though that obviously wouldn’t be the case. He could praise his beloved for days without repeating a single word and still mean each of them. Ah, that line should also go into the poem!

Feeling that he had made all the important preparations, Qiu Ling took out his lucky brush. Why was it lucky? Obviously, because it had been used to write love letters to Jing He in the past. If there was one brush he could express his honest feelings with, then it was this one. It was a pity that it was a bit ugly but he could overlook that fact.

Qiu Ling quickly dipped the tip of the brush into the ink and hummed to himself, happy with being given this opportunity. Then, he leaned forward … and reached around Jing He to start writing his poem.

Jing He flinched. He had still been deep in thought about the new state of their relationship and hadn’t even realized that his husband-to-be moved from his previous spot at the table. Suddenly hearing that hum behind him and then seeing the familiar hand, he couldn’t cope immediately. Then, his gaze brushed over the words that appeared one after the other on the paper:

Hair as black as ink, skin as white as jade. My love’s gaze holds the world, filled with peace and tranquility. To watch him water flowers nourishes my heart as well. As pure as the crystal lotus, he rises from all harm, reaching toward Heaven, our love knows no bounds.

Qiu Ling’s hand retreated and the faint sound of him clearing his throat sounded from behind. “Feel inspired yet?”

Jing He turned in the chair to look up at him, his gaze somewhat lost. Inspiration? What was he supposed to be inspired about?

He turned back, looking at the poem again. It was … a love confession, as he certainly should have expected since it was written by Qiu Ling and his husband-to-be seemed even more eager to express his feelings now that their wedding was imminent. What this could inspire …

Jing He took a deep breath. There was nothing bad about it, was there? They were going to get married in just a few days and had even started the relevant customs today. He didn’t have to feel too self-conscious about this.

Quietly encouraging himself, he faced Qiu Ling again. His lover was still close at hand, looking at him expectantly. That gaze … it indeed held its own world and it was one that encompassed all of his own. Something this beautiful, Qiu Ling was indeed best at capturing it in words. As for him, he had been so lost before so he should indeed take this inspiration to express his feelings in a different way.

Jing He took a faint breath and then leaned closer, quietly touching Qiu Ling’s lips with his own.

Qiu Ling … froze on the spot. Oh, he wasn’t unhappy. Quite the contrary. He really liked this kind of small reward for his effort. It was just … he really wasn’t used to it.

By the time his thoughts caught up, Jing He had already pulled back and turned to the desk again, not even looking at him. He could only faintly see the blush on his cheeks from the side that seemed intent on proving that this hadn’t been something easily done by Jing He either. No, it had required some courage and now, it seemed to have run out.

What a pity.

Even though he felt that way, Qiu Ling still closed his eyes with a smile, savoring the remaining warmth on his lips. It was so fleeting or maybe there was nothing that remained at all. Still, it was another moment he’d cherish, just like each of the moments they had spent together today and all those from the days prior.

As long as he spent time with Jing He, every second was special and had to be cherished, no matter what they were doing. But also, he’d be lying if he pretended that some moments weren’t even more special than others and this had definitely been one of them.